Quote:
Originally Posted by Richard
What Real Change?
The problem is that lawyers usually do not run companies, defend the country, lead people, build things, grow food or create capital.[/I]
Richard 
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Richard,
You may be on to something in this current Presidential race, The Democrat nominee has accomplished very little, and done nothing for the country that gave him a stellar education and benefits.
Maybe the definition / experience and responsibilities of Lawyers has changed, but of the Founding Fathers
35 of the 55 attendees at the Constitutional Convention were Lawyers.
It does look like Lawyers are here to stay

SnT
The Founding Fathers: A Brief Overview
The 55 delegates who attended the Constitutional Convention were a distinguished body of men who represented a cross section of 18th-century American leadership. Almost all of them were well-educated men of means who were dominant in their communities and states, and many were also prominent in national affairs.
Virtually every one had taken part in the Revolution; at least 29 had served in the Continental forces, most of them in positions of command.
Occupations
The delegates practiced a wide range of occupations, and many men pursued more than one career simultaneously.
Thirty-five were lawyers or had benefited from legal training, though not all of them relied on the profession for a livelihood. Some had also become judges.
At the time of the convention,
13 individuals were businessmen, merchants, or shippers: Blount, Broom, Clymer, Dayton, Fitzsimons, Gerry, Gilman, Gorham, Langdon, Robert Morris, Pierce, Sherman, and Wilson.
Six were major land speculators: Blount, Dayton, Fitzsimons, Gorham, Robert Morris, and Wilson.
Eleven speculated in securities on a large scale: Bedford, Blair, Clymer, Dayton, Fitzsimons, Franklin, King, Langdon, Robert Morris, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, and Sherman.
Twelve owned or managed slave-operated plantations or large farms: Bassett, Blair, Blount, Butler, Carroll, Jenifer, Mason, Charles Pinckney, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, Rutledge, Spaight, and Washington. Madison also owned slaves. Broom and
Few were small farmers.
Nine of the men received a substantial part of their income from public office: Baldwin, Blair, Brearly, Gilman, Jenifer, Livingston, Madison, and Rutledge.
Three had retired from active economic endeavors: Franklin, McHenry, and Mifflin.
Franklin and Wil liamson were scientists, in addition to their other activities.
McClurg, McHenry, and Williamson were physicians, and
Johnson was a university president.
Baldwin had been a minister, and Williamson, Madison, Ellsworth, and possibly others had studied the ology but had never been ordained.
A few of the delegates were wealthy. Washington and Robert Morris ranked among the nation's most prosperous men. Carroll, Houstoun, Jenifer, and Mifflin were also extremely well-to-do. Most of the others had financial resources that ranged from good to excellent. Among those with the most straitened circumstances were Baldwin, Brearly, Broom, Few, Madison, Paterson, and Sherman, though they all managed to live comfortably.
A considerable number of the men were born into leading families: Blair, Butler, Carroll, Houstoun, Ingersoll, Jenifer, Johnson, Livingston, Mifflin, Gouverneur Morris, both Pinckneys, Randolph, Rutledge, Washington, and Wythe.
Others were self-made men who had risen from humble beginnings: Few, Franklin, Gorham, Hamilton, and Sherman.
http://www.lexrex.com/bios/overview.htm